Mighty Close to Heaven represents the sacred recording work of Carl Story and His Rambling Mountaineers, an act that was among the earliest to bring a hard-driving string band sound to southern gospel material. Story, a Tennessee-born fiddler and singer, had been recording since the late 1940s and is credited by some scholars as a significant precursor to the development of bluegrass gospel as a distinct subgenre. His Mercury recordings from the early 1950s carried a raw intensity derived from the Primitive Baptist and church of God traditions of the southern mountains. Though less prominent in histories of bluegrass than Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, or the Stanleys, Story's influence on the sacred dimension of the genre was substantial, and his early recordings merit attention from anyone tracing the full arc of bluegrass's development.
Tracklist
- 1 Amazing Grace alt version 1:54
- 2 You Don’t Love God If You Don’t Love Your Neighbor alt version 2:14
- 3 Row Us Over The Tide 2:40
- 4 Hand In Hand 1:53
- 5 Rank Stranger alt version 3:07
- 6 Campin' In Canaan Land 2:00
- 7 Follow Him 2:06
- 8 Just One Rose Will Do 2:39
- 9 I'll Need The Prayers Of Those I Love 3:00
- 10 My Time Will Come Someday 2:12
- 11 Mighty Close To Heaven 3:02
- 12 A Picture From Life's Other Side 3:28